English – ページ 113 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

11.Nihonmatsu Castle Part2

Castle ruins from many different periods

Features

The aerial photo around the castle

Foot of Mountain

The area around the castle was turned into a park called Kasumigajo Park (Kasumigajo is a nickname of the castle which means “Castle with a Mist”). The great stone walls which are said the Kato Clan built remain at the foot of the mountain. The buildings of the Minowa-mon Gate, the Two-story Turret and the Tamon Turret were rebuilt on the walls during the present time. Visitors usually enter the Minowa-mon Gate. The statues of the child soldiers, Nihonmatsu Shonentai stand in front of it.

The stone walls at the foot of the mountain

The statues of the child soldiers, Nihonmatsu Shonentai

After passing the zigzagged route surrounded by the stone walls, you will enter the Third Enclosure. It is now empty, but this is where the Main Hall used be for the lord which was also the center of the castle in the Edo Period.

Top of Mountain

After that, you can climb up to the Main Enclosure on the top of the mounttain through the trail the Hatakeyama Clan might have originally made. The mountain part was said to be first built for the castle. When you are alomost at the top, you will see large scale old stone walls on a gentle slope under the Main Enclosure. They are called Ohishigaki or the Large Stone Walls which were probably built by the Gamo Clan. They are also one of the oldest stone walls in the Tohoku Region. At this point, you will soon reach the top.

The Main Enclosure on the top is surrounded by the wonderful stone walls which still look new today. They were originally build by the Kato Clan or the Niwa Clan, and recently restored after the recent excavation. They also have three stone bases for the Main Tower, the Eastern Turret, and the Western Turret. The Eastern Turret and the Western Turret seemed to be actually built on these bases, but there has been no evidence on whether the Main Tower was built or not. If such relics were found or such drawings were discovered it would prove that these structures were indeed built the way we suspected.

The restored stone walls of the Main Enclosure

The inside of the Main Enclosure, the back is the stone wall base for the Eastern Turret

Great view from Main Enclosure

Anyway, you can see a great wide view of the area around the castle on the top of the stone walls. The Mountains in the Tohoku Region such as Adatara-yama Mountain can be seen across the great distance. You can feel you are standing on the region with a lot of mountains. In addition to this, you will see monuments with written description of senior vassals of the Boshin War who committed suicide beside the stone wall base for the Main Tower.

Adatara-yama Mountain that can be seen across the great distance

The monuments for the senior vassals of the Nihonmatsu Domain, who committed suicide

To be continued in “Nihonmatsu Castle Part3”
Back to “Nihonmatsu Castle Part1”

11.Nihonmatsu Castle Part1

An important castle that many lords wanted to rule

Location and History

After Nihonmatsu Clan built, Date and other Clans owned it.

Nihonmatsu Castle was a castle with a long history which was located in what is now Nihonmatsu City in Fukushima Prefecture. The castle was built along the Oshu Road, an important route in Tohoku Region, and also connected to other important inland areas such as Aizu District. When the Ashikaga Shogunate was established in the first 14th Century, the shogunate sent their relative Hatakeyama Clan to the Tohoku Region to govern the region. The clan settled in the region and built Nihonmatsu Castle in the first 15th Century. It started as a simple mountain castle but later on transformed to another type of castle.

The location of the castle

The clan later called themselves the Nihonmatsu Clan which governed the castle and the area around for a long time. In the late 16th Century during the Sengoku Period, one of the greatest warlord, Masamune Date attacked Nihonmatsu Castle and the Nihonmatsu Clan finally surrendered in 1586. Since then, the castle became a branch castle of Wakamatsu Castle in Aizu District, which was the Date Clan’s home base. The lords of Wakamatsu Castle were changed to the Gamo, Uesugi, and Kato Clans, They also improved Nihonmatsu Castle by building stone walls.

伊達政宗像、仙台市博物館蔵（licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Niwa Clan mostly Governed Castle in Edo Period

In 1643 during the Edo Period, The Niwa Clan was transferred to the lord of the castle as the government building of the Nihonmatsu Domain by the Tokugawa Shogunate. The clan renovated the castle as well. They built the stone wall base for the Main Tower on the top of the mountain, but it is unknown if the tower was built at all. They also built the Main Hall for the lord with many other buildings for governing at the foot of the mountain. They also improved the defense system of the castle. The Oshu Road was moved beyond a hill from near the castle and visitors from the road had to pass through the Main Gate on the hill. The area around the castle called Kakunai or the Inner Compounds was protected by five gates including the Main Gate. The Niwa Clan peacefully governed the castle until the end of the Edo Period.

The portrait of Mitsushige Niwa, the founder of the Nihonmatsu Domain, owned by Dairinji Temple （licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons）

Part of the illustration of Nihonmatsu Castle in Mutsu Province, exhibited by the National Archives of Japan

Castle falls in one day in Boshin war

However, the castle got involved in the Boshin war in 1868 during the Meiji Restoration. The New Government Army attacked the Nihonmatsu Domain which still supported the Tokugawa Shogunate. Many of the warriors of the domain were sent to Shirakawa-Komine Castle, located in the south of Nihonmatsu Castle, to reinforce the allies at the moment. They had to protect the castle with only a few defenders including the drafted child soldiers between the age of 12 and 17. They were confused by the sudden attack and the castle was captured in just one day. Some warriors such as senior vassals of the domain committed suicide while most of the castle building being burned down. Many of the child soldiers were also killed, and they have been called Nihonmatsu Shonentai, symbolizing the tragedy of the war.

*Nihonmatsu Castle* and the statues of the Nihonmatsu child soldiers

To be continued in “Nihonmatus Castle Part2”

130.Takashima Castle Part3

Some castle buildings were rebuilt by the citizens’ power.

Later History

After the governance by the Suwa Clan in the Edo Period, Takashima Castle was abandoned and almost all of the buildings in the castle were demolished. The Main Enclosure became Takashima Park in 1876, and Suwa-Gokoku Shrine was founded in it in 1900. Other enclosures were turned into the city area. After World War II, the mayor of Suwa City asked its citizens for donation to rebuild some areas of the castle. Over half of them responded to it, and the park became what we now see. This site has been intact since 1970.

My Impression

Takashima Castle may be less popular than Suwa Lake and Suwa-taisha Shrine. I was actually surprised to know the castle was beside the lake in the past. I also imagine people in the past must have been surprised to see the great castle being built beside the lake. Suwa Lake was said to be over three times larger in the Ancient Times than now. That means people in this area have been continuing to reclaim land for a very long time. Takashima Castle was certainly one of the process.

The estimated range of Suwa Lake in the Ancient Times, quoted from the website of Hamanoyu, a hotel in Suwa

The remaining stone wall base for the Main Tower

The remaining stone walls of the Kabuki-mon Gate

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car:
It is about 15 minutes away from Suwa IC on the Chuo Expressway.
Takashima park offers a paking lot.
By train, it is about 10 minutes away from JR Kamisuwa Station on foot.
To get to Kamisuwa Station from Tokyo: Take the limited express Azusa or Kaiji at Shinjuku Station.

The stone wall base for the Main Tower is in front of the parking lot.

Links and References

・Suwa Takashima Castle (Official Website, you can download the “Takashima Castle leaflet in English”)

That’s all. Thank you.
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